Means for ventilating confined spaces



Feb. 22, 1938. .R. H. MAUTSCH 2,109,071

MEANS FOR VENTILATING CONFINED SPACES Filed Feb. 13, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ROBERT HE NR l MAUTSCH.

' ATTORNEY Feb. 22, 1938. R. H. MAUTSCH MEANS FOR VENTILATING CONFINED SPACES Filed Feb. 15 1935 INVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-She ROBERT HENRI MAUTSCH Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE MEANS FOR VENTILATING CONFINED SPACES Vania Application February 13, 1935, Serial No. 6,319 In Belgium March 30, 1934 15 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and means for ventilating confined spaces and has for its object to ensure the forced ventilation of spaces which are adapted -to be densely occupied, in

particular confined spaces such as railway passenger cars, under conditions of real comfort for the occupants, so that they shall be provided with an abundance of fresh air, shall not have to sufier objectionable air currents and can be cooled during hot weather without the temperature of the air in circulation having to be excessively lowered.

This object is attained according to the invention, by supplying to the enclosed space to be ventilated a constant quantity of fresh air, the whole or a part of which, is in accordance with requirements, diffused laterally towards the top of the space without creating perceptible draughts in the occupied region or directed from above downwards towards the occupants who benefit by an agreeable sensation of coolness. The exact degree of coolness desired is obtained by regulating the proportion of air directed from above downwards, operated preferably by the 25 occupants themselves, who cannot, however, modify the total amount of air introduced into the space in which the atmosphere is thus always renewed to the same extent.

The air distributing apparatus employed for this method of ventilation comprises in a roof or ceiling ventilator for lateral diffusion connected to a fresh air supply, one or more directing nozzles inclined downwards and a deflector device capable of regulation to permit all or a part of .35 the air to be sent either downwards through-the device or the directing nozzle or nozzles, or laterally through the difiusing openings in the venlator. Preferably the regulation of the deflector device is operated by remote control capable of to being operated by the occupants of the space.

The invention also contemplates. the combination of such a fresh air distributor with a device for the removal of vitiated air, comprising a large number of exhaust outlets distributed at a number of points in the lower part of the space, in the walls and/or in the seats provided therein, and connected to a suction pipe. This combination permits an intensive circulation of air between the fresh air distributer or distributers in the roof or ceiling of the space and the outlets adjacent the floor of the space without creating unpleasant draughts.

The accompanying drawings show by way of example an air distributer and installation schemes in accordance with the invention.

Figure 1 shows the air distributer in side elevation;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2- 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a portion of the air distributer taken on the line 5-5 in Figure 3 so as to show in somewhat diagrammatic form certain parts of said distributer;

Figures 6 and '7 show diagrammatically, in ele vation and reverse plan, an enclosed space ventilated in accordance with the invention; and

Figures. 8 and 9 are, respectively, a transverse section and a diagrammatic longitudinal section of a railway passenger car ventilated in accordance with the invention.

In the drawings, I indicates throughout a fresh air conduit or supply passage located above the ceiling 2 of the space to be ventilated and to which one or more air distributers in the form of roof ventilators 3 provided with directing nozzles 4, may be connected.

The nozzles 4 diverge in the same vertical plane from a common pipe 5 mounted in an opening in the bottom wall of the conduit I and are inclined obliquely downwards and terminate at the lower part of the casing of the ventilator 3 which surrounds and conceals them, the casing being provided with openings 39 in alignment with the ends of the nozzles. Internally each nozzle is subdivided into a plurality of parallel air passages by partitions or walls 6 which, after an interruption at 7, continue into the pipe 5 where they become common to the two nozzles. and extend into the lower part of the conduit l where their ends 8 are stepped and bent to catch the air circulating in the conduit in the direction of the arrow :1: shown in Figure 5. In one of the walls of each of the nozzles parallel to the partitions 6, is provided a large opening 9 adapted to be closed by a flap door or valve Ill which is secured to a shaft H pivotally mounted in the side wall of the nozzles and which is adapted to open to the interior of the pipe. This movement of the fiap ill is permitted by the interruption or space 1 between the adjacent ends. of the partitions 6 which space is in the form of a sector into which the deflecting flap I0 may be inclined until its upper edge comes in contact with the opposite wall of the nozzle the cross-section of which it then completely closes.

It is clear that when the flap IQ of each of the nozzles is in the position shown in full line in Figure 5, that is to say parallel to the partitions 6 and closing the opening 9, all the air caught by the vanes 8 passes through the two directing nozzles which emit it downwards into the space to be ventilated where it creates a current directed by the partitions of the nozzles, and sufficient to impart a sensation of coolness to the occupants of the space. If less coolness is desired, the deflecting flaps iii are turned more or less into the interior of the nozzles to some intermediate position, such as shown by dot and dash lines indicated by the reference character 25, so that part of the air is diverted through the nozzle opening 9, into the body of the ventilator 3, fromv whence this air is distributed laterally through the ring of openings [2 in the ventilator. It will be seen from Figure 5, as well as from. Figures 2 and 4, that owing to the setting of the lower edges of the parts of the walls 6 situated above the interruption I in the arc of a circle, the upper edge of the deflecting flaps l i! may come in exact register with one or another of these parts of the walls so as to turn the air coming from a larger or smaller number of passages between these partitions towards the opening 9, whilst the other passages remain free and continue to supply air downwardly through the directing nozzles 4. If the flap valve IE: is turned to the position shown in dot and dash lines indicated by the reference character 26 in Figure 5, all of the air obtained from the conduit I is diverted'from the nozzles into the body of the ventilator 3 and from thence laterally diffused in the space through the openings [2, without creating any appreciable draught.

It will now be noted that according to the position of the flaps H) in the nozzles, all of the air obtained from the conduit may be directed downwardly through the nozzles 4, or laterally through the openings l2 or may be divided so that a portion is directly downward and the remainder laterally, as desired, but the total amount of air supplied through the distributer to the space outside of the distributer remains constant.

The deflecting flaps Iii of the distributer may be controlled or adjusted in any suitable manner, but preferably through the medium of wires [3 carried in flexible hollow cables 29, such as the well known Bowden construction, one end of each of the wires l3 being connected to a pulley segment M mounted on the flap or valve shaft H, and adapted to act against a torsion return spring l5 mounted on said shaft with one end secured to the shaft and the other end positioned by a lug 28 mounted on the nozzle 4. The cables 29 may be carried in or around the space or room containing the distributer to suitable points therein at which the wires l3 may be connected to manually operated handles 22 as shown in Figure 8 of the drawings, whereby the occupants of the space, by operating said handles, may adjust the fiap valves It". to regulate the ventilation as desired.

If the air supplied from the roof ventilators 3 and/or the distributing nozzles 4 is evacuated from the space through a single outlet opening or a small number of openings, low pressure regions might be formed adjacent to these openings giving rise to unpleasant draughts. In order to prevent this disadvantage according to the invention a large number of outlets are provided at the lower part of the space, as shown in Figures 6 to 9 of the drawings.

In the constructional example shown in Figures 6 and 7, numerous outlet openings [6 are arranged around the space at the foot of the walls I? and they all communicate with a suction conduit or passage I8 surrounding the space. The dotted arrows indicate clearly how the air diffused laterally by the roof ventilator 3 or directed downwardly by the nozzles 4 is to some extent drawn towards the various outlet openings it, without forming draughts concentrated towards one or more of said openings. It will also be apparent that owing to this drawing, the two columns of air directed through the nozzles 4 expand soon after leaving the latter and are diffused over substantially the whole space so that on arriving at a level with the occupants of the space the air has lost its initial speed and its circulation towards the outlet openings It only creates a refreshing breeze.

In Figures 8 and 9 the space to be ventilated, which is for example a railway passenger car, contains seats E9 in the base of which are provided a plurality of exhaust openings 20 and 2|, the first opening into the space between two successive seats, and the second into the longitudinal gangway separating two sets of seats. Preferably the ventilating installation comprises along the wcis of the gangway a roof ventilator air distributer 3 for each cross passage, and the two nozzles 4 of the distributer are directed towards the two parts of the cross passage on the two sides of the gangway. The arrows show that occupants of the seats l9 are in the path of the air descending from the nozzles l to the openings 20 and 21, which communicate with exhaust conduits or passages (not shown) connected to the chambers forming the bases of the seats. By operating the handles 22 and thereby the wires I3 and flat valves H] which control the flow from the nozzles 4, the occupants of the seats can regulate as desired the degree of coolnessconveyed to them by the distributer allotted to their crosspassage or if they do not feelthe need for any cooling they can stop the supply from the nozzles without the atmosphere becoming close because the same quantity of air continues to be supplied through the distributer, but in this case entirely through the holes in the roof ventilator 3.

It is evident that the invention may be realized and applied in other ways than described above by way of example and the details of construction may be modified without exceeding the scope of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a plurality of nozzles open at one end to said conduit and at the opposite end to space and disposed to direct air received from saidconduit in an oblique downwardly direction into said space, a casing around said nozzles forming a chamber open to said space through a plurality of lateral openings in said casing, a member in each of said nozzles movable into the path of flow of air through said nozzles for diverting air from said nozzles into said chamber whereby a flow of air in a lateral direction is obtained through said lateral openings into said space, and means operable manually for individually adjusting the position of said members in said nozzles for varying the amount of air diverted from said nozzles into said chamber.

2. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a plurality of nozzles open at one end to said conduit and at the opposite end to space and disposed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique downwardly direction into said space, a casing around said nozzles forming a chamber open to said space through a plurality of lateral openings in said casing, a member in each of said nozzles movable into the path of flow of air through said nozzles for diverting air from said nozzles into said chamber whereby a flow of air in a lateral direction is obtained through said lateral openings into said space, and means operable manually at a location remote from said nozzles for adjusting the position of said members in said nozzles for varying the amount of air diverted from said nozzles into said chamber.

3. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a plurality of nozzles open at one end to said conduit and at the opposite end to space and disposed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique downwardly direction into said space, a casing around said nozzles forming a chamber open to said space through a plurality of lateral openings in said casing, each of said nozzles having a side opening, a flap valve in each of said nozzles adapted to pivot at one end and close the side opening in said nozzles and movable into said nozzles into the path of flow of air through said nozzles for diverting air from said nozzles through said opening into said chamber whereby a flow of air is obtained through the openings in the casing laterally into said space, and man ually operable means for regulating the position of said flap valve in each of said nozzles.

4. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a plurality of nozzles open at one end to said conduit and arranged at an oblique angle and extending in a downwardly direction and adapted to receive air from said conduit and discharge same out through the other end of said nozzles into space, a casing around said nozzles forming a chamber and having a plurality of side openings adapted to direct air flowing from said chamber through said openings laterally into said space, each of said nozzles having an opening into said chamher, a flap valve associated with each of said nozzles and adapted to close the opening in the corresponding nozzle and movable into said nozzle and into the path of flow of air through said nozzle for diverting air out of said nozzle into said chamber, and means for varying the position of said fiap valve in said nozzle from that in which said opening is closed and all air supplied to said nozzle is directed through said other end thereof into said space to a position in which all air supplied to said nozzle is diverted into said chamber.

5. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a nozzle open at one end to said conduit and at the other end to space and designed to direct air re ceived from said conduit in an oblique, downwardly direction into said space, a plurality of spaced partition walls in and extending lengthwise of said nozzle and into said conduit and stepped in length in said conduit in the direction of air flow through said conduit for diverting air from said conduit into the parallel channels between said walls, the other ends of said partition walls being stepped in length so as to terminate on a cylindrical arc the center of which is a line lying substantially in the wall of said nozzle, a flap valve associated with said nozzle and adapted to pivot substantially about said line and movable into engagement with one side of said nozzle for closing a side opening through said nozzle and movable into said nozzle past the last mentioned ends of said partition walls for diverting air from one or more of said parallel channels through the side opening in said nozzle according to the position of the flap valve in said nozzle, and means for adjusting the position of said flap valve in said nozzle.

6. In combination, a fresh air conduit, 2. nozzle open at one end to said conduit and at the other end to space and designed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique, downwardly direction into said space, a plurality of spaced partition walls in and extending lengthwise of said nozzle and into said conduit and stepped in length in said conduit in the direction of air flow through said conduit for diverting air from said conduit-into the parallel channels between said walls, the other ends of said partition walls being stepped in length so as to terminate on a cylindrical arc the center of which is a line lying substantially in the wall of said nozzle, a shaft adapted to pivot substantially around said line, a flap valve secured to said shaft and movable into engagement with one side of said nozzle for closing an opening through the side wall of said nozzle and movable into the nozzle past the last mentioned ends of said partition walls and into engagement with the opposite side of said nozzle for diverting air from one or more or all of said parallel channels through the side opening in said nozzle according to the position of said flap valve in. said nozzle, means for turning said shaft in one direction including a manually operable member, and spring means for turning said shaft in the reverse direction.

'7. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a nozzle open at one end to said conduit and at the other end to space and designed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique, downwardly direction into said space, a plurality of spaced partition walls extending from the outer or discharge end of said nozzle inwardly of said nozzle and terminating in said nozzle in stepped up relation in a plane passing obliquely through said nozzle and including a line substantially disposed in one side of said nozzle, a plurality of spaced partition walls in said nozzle extending in one direction into said conduit with the ends stepped up in the direction of air iiow and extending in the opposite direction and stepped in length in a direction reverse from that of the first mentioned partition walls and such that the ends thereof terminate in a cylindrical are drawn from said line, a flap valve associated with said nozzle and rotatable substantially about said line, the length of said flap valve being slightly less than the radius of said are, said flap valve being movable to a position substantially parallel to said partition walls and in which it engages one side of said nozzle and closes an opening through the side wall of said nozzle and being movable through the space provided between adjacent ends of the first and second mentioned partition walls into engagement with the opposite side of said nozzle, said flap valve being adapted to divert air from said nozzle through the opening in the side wall of said nozzle in accordance with the positioning of said flap valve in said nozzle, and means for adjusting the position of said flap valve in said nozzle.

8. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a nozzle open at one end to said conduit and at the other end to space and designed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique, downwardly direction into said space, a plurality of spaced partition walls in and extending lengthwise of said nozzle and into said conduit and stepped in length in said conduit in the direction of air flow through said conduit for diverting air from said conduit into the parallel channels between said Walls, the other ends of said partition walls being stepped in length so as to terminate on a cylindrical arc the center of which is a line lying substantially in the wall of said nozzle, a flap valve associated with said nozzle and adapted to pivot substantially about said line and movable into engagement with one side of said nozzle for closing a side opening through said nozzle and movable into said nozzle past the last mentioned ends of said partition walls for diverting air from one or more of said parallel channels through the side opening in said nozzle according to the position of the flap valve in said nozzle, means for adjusting the position of said flap valve in said nozzle, and a casing around said nozzle forming a chamber for receiving air diverted from said nozzle by said flap valve, said casing having a plurality of side openings for diverting air supplied to said chamber laterally into said space.

9. A ventilating system for a room or confined space comprising a fresh air conduit, a suction conduit open to said room near the floor and a ventilator in the ceiling of said room open to said fresh air conduit and through which air from said fresh air conduit is forced into said room, said ventilator comprising a nozzle for directing air supplied thereto in an oblique downwardly direction into said room, means for directing air from said nozzle laterally into said room, means adjustable to direct either a part or all of the air supplied to said nozzle in an oblique downwardly direction or laterally into said room, and a; manually operable member disposed in the room at a location remote from said ventilator and operable to regulate the adjustable means.

:10. A ventilating system for the space in a passenger car containing a plurality of seats comprising an outlet conduit open to said space through a plurality of relatively small openings near the floor, a fresh air conduit, a ventilator disposed at an upper level of said space and open to said fresh air conduit and through which air from said fresh air conduit is forced into said room, said ventilator comprising a nozzle arranged to direct air supplied thereto in a downwardly direction toward one of said seats, means for directing air from said nozzle laterally into said space, means adjustable to direct either a part or all of the air supplied to said nozzle in said downwardly direction or laterally, and a manually operable member secured to the wall of said space adjacent said one of said seats for regulating the adjustable means.

11. A ventilating system for the space in a passenger car containing two parallel rows of seats along the opposite sides of the car comprising an outlet conduit open to said space through a plurality of relatively small openings near the floor, a fresh air conduit, a ventilator disposed adjacent the ceiling of the space and located centrally over the gangway between the rows of seats and opposite the space between two adjacent seats in the same row, said ventilator comprising two oppositely disposed nozzles open to said fresh air conduit and designed to direct air supplied from said fresh air conduit in oblique downwardly and opposite directions towards the opposite seats in the two rows, an adjustable deflector in each of said nozzles movable into said nozzles for diverting laterally into said space either a part or all of the air supplied to said nozzles, and a manually operable member secured to the side of the car adjacent the occupant of the seat at one side of the ventilator for regulating the adjustable deflector in the nozzle serving said occupant.

12. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a nozzle open at one end to said conduit and at the opposite end to space and disposed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique downwardly direction, into said space, a casing around said nozzle forming a chamber open to said space through a plurality of lateral openings in said casing, and a member in said nozzle movable into the path of air flow through said nozzle for diverting air from said nozzle into said chamber whereby a flow of air in a lateral direction is obtained through said lateral openings into said space.

13. In combination, a fresh air conduit, a nozzle open at one end to said conduit and at the opposite end to. space and disposed to direct air received from said conduit in an oblique downwardly direction into said space, a casing around said nozzle forming a chamber open to said space through a plurality of lateral openings in said casing, a member in said nozzle movable into the path of air flow through said nozzle for diverting air from said nozzle into said chamber whereby a flow of air in a lateral direction is obtained through said lateral openings into said space, and means for adjusting the position of said member in said nozzle for varying the amount of air directed into said space through said nozzle and through said lateral openings.

14. A ventilator for supplying fresh air fro-m a fresh air conduit to a space to be ventilated comprising means for directing air into said space in one direction, means for directing air into said space in another direction, and an adjustable member for varying inversely the area of the opening through which air is adapted to be supplied to one directing means with respect to the area of opening through which air is adapted to be supplied to the other directing means.

15. A ventilator for supplying fresh air from a fresh air conduit to a space to be ventilated comprising means for directing air intosaid space in one direction, means for directing air into said space in another direction, and an adjustable member for simultaneously increasing the supply of air to one directing means and reducing the supply of air to the other directing means.

ROBERT HENRI MAUTSCH. 

